This county was
named in honor of William A. Richardson of Illinois, who
was the third Territorial Governor. The present
population is 19,614 and the county capital, Falls City,
has 3,022 residents. There are 80.19 miles of railway
extending across the county. The lowlands are relieved by
uplands and rocky bluffs. The ground is composed of a
rich, black soil, which is sandy in many places. The
manufacturing industry consists of eight flour and grist
mills and three brick yards. Three hundred and
thirty-eight thousand three hundred and twenty-nine acres
are used in farming purposes, and within the last few
years the value of land has increased 35 per cent. Corn
and small grain are the principal crops. A great deal of
fruit is shipped annually, and corn and hogs are the
principal exports. The county was organized in 1855, and
at the first election in 1856 98 votes were polled. In
1854 John A. Singleton and William Roberts took claims on
the south fork of the Nemaha. In the spring of 1855 Jesse
Crook tilled the first farm in the county near Muddy
Creek. Stephen Story was one of the most prominent of the
early citizens. William G. Goolsby was a professional
hunter in the early days. In his report he says that
herds of from fifteen to twenty deer were constantly in
sight, and that he often killed as many as seven a day.
Horse thieves were punished by mob law in the territorial
days, and a case of hanging is recorded. In 1830 a treaty
was made with the Indians by which a reservation of land
was made for the half-breeds of the county. The 6,702
school children are apportioned among 104 districts.
There are ten graded schools, which employ sixty
teachers.
WILLIAM M.
RIEGER is a native of Falls City, Nebraska, having
been born March 5, 1869, and he has been a resident of
Falls City ever since. He graduated from Holton College,
Kansas, in 1891 and went into the mercantile business. In
1896 he was married to Miss Katie Schnell of St. Louis,
Missouri. He has always been identified with the
Republican party and has been elected County Recorder on
that ticket.
F. E. MARTIN is
a native of Aledo, Illinois, born January 4, 1874. He
received his education in the common schools, having come
to Nebraska in 1874. He is a worker in the Republican
party and has served as County Attorney in Richardson
County. His parentage is American.
JACOB C. TANNER
is a native of St. Joseph, Missouri, having been born
March 30, 1869, of German parentage, where he spent his
boyhood and received a common school education. During
the year of 1884 he came to Falls City and engaged in the
mercantile business. In 1898 he married Miss Sophia Lange
of Falls City. He is a Republican of long standing and
has served the county in the capacity of Clerk. Mr.
Tanner has been in business at Falls City for a number of
years.
GEORGE W.
RENEKER was born in Kilbourne, Iowa, April 10, 1864.
In 1900 he came to Richardson County, and to Falls City
in 1902. He graduated from the Northwestern College in
1893 and Central Medical College in 1900. He has held the
offices of Surgeon Missouri Lines, Burlington Route,
United States Pension Examiner and Temporary Surgeon to
Troop A, Fifth Cavalry, and is at present the Coroner of
Richardson County.
GEORGE CROCKER
was born in Cedar Falls, Iowa, April 10, 1867. He came to
Nebraska in 1893, teaching in Dawson County for seven
years, Humboldt two years and came to Falls City in 1902.
He graduated from the Western Normal, Shenandoah, Iowa,
and Lincoln Normal, and has taken five years' special
work in the University of Nebraska. He married Miss Ethel
Judd in 1898 and they have one child. He was a member of
the Iowa National Guards for three years and has been
elected County Superintendent on the Republican
ticket.
CHARLES LOREE was
born in Lebanon, Ohio, March 19, 1852. In 1866 he came
from Indiana to Richardson County. He was edu-
